Holder for paper articles



Oct. 21, 1969 HNCHER HOLDER FOR PAPER ARTICLES Filed Feb. 28, 1968 ALTON R. FINGHER INVENTOR.

BY 6 Paula! A T TORNE Y8 3,473,672 HOLDER FOR PAPER ARTICLES Alton R. Fincher, 7911 Del Monte, Houston, Tex. 77042 Filed Feb. 28, 1968, Ser. No. 708,859 Int. Cl. A47f 7/00 US. Cl. 211-51 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A holder for paper articles having means for retaining the paper articles in position thereon so that it may be used outdoors without fear of losing the paper articles when the wind blows and which may be easily transported from one location to another.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention is in the general field of a holder for paper articles, particularly paper napkins and the like, so that the napkins can be used outside on a patio, around a swimming pool, or in other situations.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, when using napkins outdoors, it has been necessary to place them under articles on the tables or hold them in the users hand or positioned beneath the users leg to prevent their loss when the Wind blows. So far as known by applicant, it has been generally impossible heretofore to provide a source of napkins outdoors for ready access, yet which will be maintained so as not to blow away.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a holder for holding paper articles, particularly napkins and the like, and a handle arrangement with a rod extending therebetween for positioning the rod on top of the paper articles to weight them and keep them from blowing away when the device is used out of doors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric View illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and the manner of removing one of the paper articles therefrom;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the form of the invention shown in FIG. 1 with the handles moved into the same plane as the holder for storage during nonuse; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the bar which extends across the top of the articles between the handles and retains them in position as shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Attention is first directed to FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings wherein the invention is represented generally by the numeral and includes a base 11 of any suitable configuration. As illustrated, the base 11 is generally rectangular in shape and has side edges 13 that are turned up and end portions 14 which are also turned up to aid in retaining paper articles represented generally by the numeral 15 in FIG. 1 in position thereon.

Preferably the base 11 may be formed of plate material, but in some situations it may be perforated or have some t ted States Patent 0 ice other type of design so long as it presents a substantially uniform surface to support the paper articles as illustrated at 15 thereon. The side portions 13 and the end portions 14 serve to keep the stack of paper articles from sliding off the holder.

It will be noted that the invention also includes the handles 16 and 17 better seen in FIG. 1, each handle being substantially U-shaped and having a base portion 18 with the legs 19 integrally formed therewith.

The legs 19 are pivotally connected as shown at 20 to the base of the holder and more particularly to the upstanding side portion 13 as seen in FIG. 2 of the drawings. Preferably, the pivot point of each of the legs 19 of the handle 16 is spaced from the pivot point of the legs 19 of the handle 17 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 so that when the handles are moved upwardly towards each other as illustrated in FIG. 1 there is more space between them at their point of connection with base 11 than there is at their upper portiOn. When the handles 16 and 17 assume the position shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings they serve as a means for carrying the holder of the present invention about the room so that the paper articles such as napkins may be offered to various people, or it may be moved from one location to the other in a room or from one location to another outside during use.

The rod 25 is of a suitable extent so that when it is positioned between the handles 16 and 17 as shown in FIG. 1, the enlargements 26 on each end thereof provide an abutting shoulder surface 27 that is in close proximity to the outer surface 28 of each of the legs 19 on each of the handles 16 and 17. Of course, it can be appreciated that the rod 25 can be of any suitable dimension, and when the holder is full of paper articles, it may prevent contact of the handles 16 and 17 but will not interfere with their use for serving as a means of carrying the holder around from one position to another position as previously described.

In FIG. 3, enlargements 26 in the preferred form of the invention are shown as being cylindrical in shape as is the rod 25.

In the use of the present invention, a suitable number of paper articles may be stacked on the base 11 of the holder and then the handles 16 and 17 with the rod 25 placed on top of the stack of paper articles represented at 15 in FIG. 1 is raised to the position shown in FIG. 1, and it is then ready for use.

The rod 25 and its enlargements 26 are of sufiicient weight to retain the articles in position when the holder is used outdoors so that they will be retained in position thereon even in a high wind.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the preferred embodiment of the invention and is by way of example only.

I claim:

1. A holder for paper articles such as napkins and the like comprising:

(a) a base upon which the articles may be stacked;

(b) a pair of U-shaped handles pivotally mounted on said base and movable generally to a position substantially vertical to said base;

(0) a rod extending between said handles when in a substantially vertical position for resting on the stacked paper articles; and

(d) said rod having enlarged ends which form shoulders for abutting against the outer surfaces of 3 said handles to retain said rod in position on said stacked paper articles and thereby prevent their being blown away.

2. The holder of claim 1 wherein said handles may be moved to a position in substantially the same plane as said base for storage.

3. The holder of claim 1 wherein said handles are pivotally connected to said base at spaced points so that when said handles are moved upwardly towards each other over the bases until they engage the rod fitting 10 therebetween, the clearance between said handles increases from their point of abutting relationship with said rod downwardly toward said base whereby said rod is free to move between said handles to permit easy withdrawal of the paper articles engaged therebeneath.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES A. LEPPINK, Primary Examiner 

